$AVAV (AeroVironment, Inc.)

Troy Jensen of Piper Jaffray asks about $AVAV's FY17 revenue guidance split. CFO Raymond Cook said one-third, two-thirds will be between 1H17 and 2H17. In 1H17, $AVAV expects to see about a 40%/60% split between 1Q17 and 2Q17.

$AVAV continues to pursue specific opportunities in the domestic
small UAS business, one of which is the frequency relocation which the company believes
is positioned well. Within the Snipe solution, there is customer requirement
for the Soldier Borne Sensors program. The demand for small UAS products and
solutions internationally remains strong.

During 1Q18, in the passenger EV charging business, $AVAV surpassed
61,000 level 2 charging systems deployed in North America. Internationally the
company delivered TurboCords to a new European customer and also began pilot
shipments of products for China and Europe for Volvo.

In 1Q18, $AVAV shipped its first Puma AE and Raven systems to
the US Customs and Border Patrol. The company also signed a multi-year contract
with the Australian Defense Force for their acquisition of Wasp AE systems
along with value-added support services and content from its Australian
partners.

For FY18, $AVAV continues to expect to generate revenue between $280MM and $300MM, and earnings per diluted share between $0.45 and $0.65. The current funded backlog of the company was close to $85.3MM.

The UAS and EES segments of $AVAV flew high as their sales jumped by $5.8MM and $1.8MM respectively in 1Q18 compared to last year. The gross margin for the quarter was $11.6MM, an increase of $6.7MM. This was primarily due to an increase in product margin of $6.4MM, partially offset by a decrease in service margin of $1.4MM.

$AVAV, a technology firm, glides to a lesser-loss zone in 1Q18 piggybacking on a spike in gross margin and a dip in R&D expense. The net loss was $4.4MM or $0.19 per share compared to $11.6MM loss or $0.51 per share in 1Q17. A sales surge in Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Efficient Energy Systems saw revenue swell by 21% from $36.2MM a year ago.

$AVAV's investments in its Tactical Missile Systems (TMS) business continue to bear fruits. TMS revenue in FY11 was about $6MM, growing to more than $40MM in FY16. In FY17, TMS revenue grew to more than $75MM, up more than 80% over the previous year. From FY11, this represents a CAGR of 56%. TMS now accounts for 29% of total company revenue.

For FY18, $AVAV expects to generate revenue of between $280MM and $300MM, and earnings per diluted share of between $0.45 and $0.65. For 1Q18, AeroVironment sees revenue of $40-44MM, and loss per diluted share of $0.32 -0.40.

Technology company $AVAV reported 3Q17 net loss of $2.2MM, $0.09 per share, compared to net income of $6.2MM, or $0.27 per share during 3Q16, mainly due to decrease in sales in Unmanned Aircraft Systems segment and lower product margin. Revenue fell 21% YoY to $53.2MM.

$AVAV said that the Netherlands awarded a $10.3MM contract for Raven digital upgrades, Puma AE and Wasp AE systems becoming a full family of systems customer having first purchased Raven systems. The company achieved a key milestone for Switchblade with a new $22.8MM contract for the Army for Block 10C system in October.

$AVAV said it received an order for 30 of its Snipe Unmanned Aircraft Systems for early evaluation, remaining strong in its position in the domestic defense market. The company increased its international UAS footprint to more than 35 allied nations and deployed more than 40,000 Level 2 chargers.

$AVAV said a Navy destroyer deployed with its Puma AE shipboard Precision Landing System. This demonstrates another step towards the adoption of Puma systems on the Navy’s more than 60 guided missile destroyers. The company expects to work collaboratively toward increased naval adoption of Puma AE and its Precision Landing System.

$AVAV made great progress on its bookings plan as expected by increasing funded backlog by $22.4MM to $119.6MM. The company invested about $1.9MM or 4% of revenue in property improvements and capital equipment and recognized $1.7MM of depreciation and amortization expense.

$AVAV expects 3Q17 revenue of $50-52MM and loss per share of $0.34-0.38. For FY17, the company expects to generate revenue of $260-280MM and EPS of $0.20-0.35. $AVAV expects robust demand for small unmanned aircraft systems and support services from international customers across the globe.

Unmanned aircrafts maker $AVAV slipped to 2Q17 loss from profit last year, due to decline in sales from unmanned aircraft systems segment as well as lower product margin. Net loss was $4.17MM or $0.18 per share compared to profit of $4.42MM or $0.19 per share last year. Revenue fell to $50.12MM from $64.73MM.